Osteo Thread

[Guest vahoundlover]

I've been checking in on you guys on the fly but haven't posted in a while.

 

Charlie, you are amazing! Keep fighting handsome!!!

 

Lucy and Dude, it's good to read that you are doing so well!

 

Kristen, I'm keeping you guys in my prayers. I hate that you are facing this nasty disease again. My love to Tiny.

 

Hoping chemo goes well for Callie!

 

 

Next month will be a year for me since DX. Yesterday I finished round 4 or is it 5, I think it's 4 of treatments. I hate this disease!! My thoughts and prayers are with all of you and I want you to know, your strength in fighting this disease with which ever route you chose is an inspiration to me.

[RedFawnMom]

Pictures of Charlie always make me smile.

 

Lucy had another good night. She accidentally roached. She slowly slid off her bed into a little space of carpet between two dog beds and ended up on her back, kind of wedged there, so she went ahead and put her remaining three legs up into the air.

 

Late last night, after 11:00, I was putting stuff away and picked up her tags, which stay on a little clip that we attach to her harness when we leave the house. The sound of her tags jingling usually = walk. She heard them, jumped up and hopped to the door, tail wagging like crazy. I'm so glad to see her still in good spirits.

 

Hugs to you Kristen.

 

Did Callie start chemo today?

Edited February 11, 2011 by RedFawnMom

[Guest roselle]

Lucy, your going to outrun everyone, go girl.

[brindlebaby]

At hospital with Callie waiting for results of her blood test to see if chemo is a go or no.

 

Oncologist just came out and said they're also going to do a chest x-ray since the last one was a month ago....oh God.

Edited February 12, 2011 by brindlebaby

[RedFawnMom]

At hospital with Callie waiting for results of her blood test to see if chemo is a go or no.

 

Oncologist just came out and said they're also going to do a chest x-ray since the last one was a month ago....oh God. :sad

I know that feeling -- they did repeat chest X-rays on Lucy before surgery since it had been a month since they'd done them, and my heart was in my throat until I heard back. I'm thinking good thoughts for you that Callie's come back clear. Please update us when you can.

[Wonder]

Way to go Lucy

Roaching and wanting to go for walkies

 

 

Got a sympathy card yesterday from the vet (not my reg vet) who dx'd Sparks

Got the card from my vet today

 

I just made a baked potato. The last time I made one (last week), I shared it with Sparks

 

i keep tearing up but not breaking down. Is that normal?

 

I have to work my other job tonight- they don't know about Sparks yet. I don't want to tell anyone-what if I break down at work? crap that would suck

[RedFawnMom]

I have a question for those of you who have gone the amp route. My husband and I are having a hard time figuring out how to tell people about Lucy's amp. She's a huge part of our lives - everyone who knows us knows about her, she's basically our child. When we found out she had cancer, we didn't tell anyone except my parents because it was too difficult to talk about, and we didn't know what we were going to do in terms of treatment. So, only a handful of people who know Lucy know about her surgery. For those of you who went through this, how did you tell people? I don't feel like we need to make an announcement, but our family is going to be really surprised that we didn't mention it, and I don't know how to bring it up. On top of that, I think it's a really horrifying thing for people to understand unless they know about osteo (before we were faced with this decision, I couldn't understand how anyone could put their dog through this), which makes it even harder to talk about. I don't want to make an announcement, but I also don't want to shock people when they first see her as a tripod.

 

I'm just curious to hear if anyone else has found this to be difficult.

[brindlebaby]

Callie's chest x-ray and blood test is normal!!

[Patsy]

Oh thank heavens!

[krissn333]

 

i keep tearing up but not breaking down. Is that normal?

 

 

It happens to me ALL the time, Kari. In fact, yesterday I was sending an email to a friend about Annie, a little girl who'd been returned to the kennel who was just diagnosed with osteo, and she doesn't have much time left I mentioned Sutra and immediately I teared up (and am right now, in fact )

 

I dreamed about Sutra last night. Waking up to realize it was just a dream was not as much of a blow as it was the last time I dreamed about him, but, it still made me miss him. I started that thread about the seniors in St. Louis with Rescued Racers in EEG and one of them, Jovi, has what I call a "Sutra face." Even though Sutra was black and Jovi is fawn, they have the same soulful eyes and the "old man lips"....and their faces are just very similar. I am positive that's what spawned my dream.

 

So happy to hear about the roaches

[greysmom]

YEAH CALLIE!!!!!

 

Jess, I sent an email to my family that said something like "This is why I haven't been in touch lately," and kind of laid it all out. Some of them had already seen my FB postings about Dude, but I went into a little more detail and background to explain what was going on.

 

Kari, I think what you're going through is completely normal. Everyone grieves in their own way, and you'll find your way through the bad days and the good days. I can still tear up at odd moments about our first greyhound Libby who we lost to kidney failure 3 years ago. I also know that Dude's passing is going to be really, really hard on everyone - dog and human - in our house.

 

Update: Vet just called and they did end up closing his infection surgery wound and putting in a drain. The surgeon said it looked really good and that the drain should help it finish healing. I'm not holding my breath, but I hope this is the tail end of this round.

[KF_in_Georgia]

Kari, I did almost all of my screaming/crying/this-isn't-fair/I-want-my-dog-back! bawling the night Oreo died. I didn't get to say good-bye to her, and that broke my heart. I went from "just needs a pin in her leg" to "your dog isn't getting any oxygen" in about 30 seconds on the phone, and had no time to be prepared.

 

The day after that, I went back to work rather than sit home with just one dog instead of two. Several times I teared up, but I was able to just move past it, mostly because although I would have drawn sympathy from my coworkers, they wouldn't have hurt the way I was hurting and I didn't want sympathy from people who weren't hurting as much as I was. (The worst moment was when a customer brought a black greyhound in for a nail trim.)

 

After that, I just had one more major crying jag. It was triggered by Jacey (Oreo's successor)--she had SA and lots of new-dog issues. I came home to find her covered in poop in her crate, the other dog (Sam)--who'd stepped in the poop and scratched an itch, and I had to bathe them both after a long day at work. I took them into the front yard, bathed them, then sat on the curb while they dried and bawled my eyes out, along with a lot of accusatory cries of, "Oreo wouldn't have done this to me!" (Jacey was bound and determined not to be anything like my well-behaved Oreo. It says a lot that I never slipped and called Jacey "Oreo" in the first three years she lived here.)

 

I think you'll find yourself holding back tears almost easily in moments you'd expect to break down completely. Then you'll crack (probably in private) over something unexpected--maybe over something done by one of your other dogs. It's all as "normal" as grief can be.

 

 

I'm glad Callie's x-rays were clear so she can start her chemo. And I'm glad Dude's doing better.

[GreytNut]

I'm glad that Charlie, Lucy and Callie are doing well and things seem to be looking up for Dude.

 

Tiny had his first bad day. Holy cow. Yesterday he was bouncing around like he didn't have a care in the world. Today he's not putting any weight on his leg. He's hobbling around and panting. I'm going to ask the vet for more pain meds. He started Tiny off with just Rimadyl, which was working fine until today. He said that when Tiny needs it he'll also prescribe Tramadol and Gabapentin to keep the pain down. He certainly needs it. So I'll be knocking on the door for those prescriptions as soon as they open.

[Charlies_Dad]

Kristen,

 

I hope you can get Tiny's pain under control. It's possible he overdid it yesterday.

[Charlies_Dad]

I have a question for those of you who have gone the amp route. My husband and I are having a hard time figuring out how to tell people about Lucy's amp. She's a huge part of our lives - everyone who knows us knows about her, she's basically our child. When we found out she had cancer, we didn't tell anyone except my parents because it was too difficult to talk about, and we didn't know what we were going to do in terms of treatment. So, only a handful of people who know Lucy know about her surgery. For those of you who went through this, how did you tell people? I don't feel like we need to make an announcement, but our family is going to be really surprised that we didn't mention it, and I don't know how to bring it up. On top of that, I think it's a really horrifying thing for people to understand unless they know about osteo (before we were faced with this decision, I couldn't understand how anyone could put their dog through this), which makes it even harder to talk about. I don't want to make an announcement, but I also don't want to shock people when they first see her as a tripod.

 

I'm just curious to hear if anyone else has found this to be difficult.

 

Jess,

 

You know it's actually surprising the words you here. When people see Charlie, they do ask and everytime they have always been very nice about it and usually give Charlie more scritches. What I do try to do is explain as best I can what Osteo is, and how amputation helps remove the pain otherwise it's a very painful battle for the pup and managing pain meds. The only one 'negative' reaction was actually right after surgery and the woman was likely shocked by his wound, not the missing leg.

As for family, I had told my mum and brothers that Charlie had bone cancer (Osteo is whole other word) and that we were amputating his leg to relieve the pain and the hope of prolonging his life. They took it fine as we are a 'dog family' (10 pups in total).

[NeylasMom]

Kristen, I hope you can get those pain meds soon. If you're vet is reluctant in any way, insist that he give you good amts of both Tramadol and Gabapentin.

 

The more and more I see people deal with this, the more I don't understand why vets aren't more proactive about getting meds to people whose dogs have osteo. I have to think it's only because they haven't dealt with it in their own pets. People need to have meds that the dog doesn't need at that exact moment and instructions on how to gradually increase so that when teh time comes, they are prepared. It is horrible to have to watch your pup be in pain while you frantically try to get meds, usually on a weekend when the vets aren't in. I'll get off my soapbox now, sorry.

 

Kari, there's no "normal" way to grieve, but for me, I didn't find myself crying much, if at all for at least the first week. I could scroll through pics of Neyla on my phone or camera and maybe just tear up, but I would be smiling. That changed with time. I think I was in some sort of denial. It just hadn't sunk in that she was gone. I also think with osteo, you have time to prepare yourself and do a lot of grieving before your dog is gone. But I remember feeling like something was wrong with me because I didn't feel more sad. Now I think my subconscious was only exposing me to my grief in little pieces because if I had to deal with that huge gaping hole in my heart all at once, I couldn't have handled it. Anyway, the point I was trying to make is that there's no normal. You grieve in your own wa and time and don't worry about it, or try not to.

 

for Callie's clear x-rays and Dude's healing incision.

[RedFawnMom]

Lucy had a rough night/morning. She whimpered once before we went to bed (of course it was right after the vet closed) and then just couldn't seem to get comfortable last night and was standing up every hour or so and just kind of fidgeting. This morning she let out a GSOD and was clearly anxious and in pain. Her fentanyl patch was good until Friday and it was so sudden - before last night she was completely fine, NO signs of pain or anxiety, and then within a few hours she was a mess, even on the max dose of Tramadol and the anti-inflammatory.

 

Anyway, the vet covering for the surgeon today suggested another patch since it was controlling her pain so well, so we rushed into our local vet and they put on a new one. And now she's snoozing, completely comfortable and in good spirits again, hopping into the kitchen when she hears the microwave or the peanut butter jar being opened.

 

I'm going to call the surgeon on Monday and discuss other oral meds (Gabapentin?) that we can have on hand to start in a few days, before the fentanyl starts to wear off again. Jen, I completely agree with you about the meds. I tried to get the vet to give us a couple of "extra" prescriptions to have just in case we needed them (something for anxiety and something else for pain), so that IF her pain wasn't controlled with the Tramadol, we'd have something else ready, but I think they're uncomfortable handing out too much stuff - they want you to consult with them first, since an increase in pain or anxiety can be a sign of a complication. Still, I wish we had had something else to give her last night to avoid her being so uncomfortable overnight.

[GreytNut]

Tiny now has Rimadyl, Tramadol and Gabapentin on board. It seems to be helping a lot. He's now working on a CET chew with great gusto. There is noticeable swelling in his leg. I think those zoomie photos I posted in Cute and Funny (Linky) will be his last. Not sure I want to allow him to run, even if he feels up to it. If he breaks his leg or breaks his shoulder he's done.

[KF_in_Georgia]

Just a reminder to anyone about to start gabapentin: this is one of the drugs that, in liquid form for people, often is compounded with Xylitol. Xylitol is toxic to animals, so make sure your vet and pharmacist are on the same page about this. If you're getting a liquid form from a people/pharmacist, make sure there's no Xylitol in the compound.

[GreytNut]

These are capsules. The pharmacist said there wasn't any xylitol in the capsule form.

[KF_in_Georgia]

These are capsules. The pharmacist said there wasn't any xylitol in the capsule form.

 

Yes, capsules are safe. The risk is the liquid form, where Xylitol is added to sweeten the taste.

[Charlies_Dad]

Jess,

 

Sorry to hear Lucy had a bad night. It can happen and like Jen wrote, having plenty of pain meds is important. We found that Gabapentin worked very well for the pain and one the pains is 'phantom pain'. Not sure whether your vet discussed this with you. It can occur with some hounds and from what I recollect, Gabapentin helps with neuropathic pain and can reduce/eliminate phantom pain.

 

Kristen,

 

I would agree that not allowing Tiny to run too much is a good idea even though those pics of him doing zoomies were great. I hope with all the meds his pain can be controlled well.

[NeylasMom]

Kristen, I think the swelling is usually an indication that things have progressed. That combined with the fact that you have 3 meds on board makes me think you're probably right to limit the activity now, but you could always do an x-ray if you wanted to be certain. Give Tiny some gentle pets from me.

 

Jess, sorry Lucy had a rough night. Glad the new patch seems to be helping.

 

I thought I was doing a bit better about losing Neyla - turns out I was just too busy being sick. Yesterday was the first day that I felt human again and last night I cried myself to sleep again. I've had dreams about her again the last 2 nights too, makes the wound feel so fresh when I wake up and realize all over that she's gone.

[greysmom]

Here's hoping for a better day for everyone!

 

After Friday when the vet closed the wound and put in a suction drain tube, Dude didn't bounce back as quickly as he had before. Saturday he was very drugged up and feeling down. He slept most of the day, which was probably a good thing. The suction egg part of the drain is actually sutured into the skin on his upper thigh ( :eek ) and it's really bothering him. He hates hates hates having stuff on him - even his harness and collar - so this "thing" he has dangling from his leg is annoying in the extreme. We're hoping that the drain can come out Monday, though It's still draining very well.

 

His amputation incision actually looks good - closed and not puffy or infected. On the whole, I'm hoping for the best. Next hurdle after the drain being pulled is starting chemo. I'm very worried about the time that this infection has stolen from furthering his treatment.

 

Hugs!

[Wonder]

Jen

 

I took the pups on a group walk today. One of the people there is someone I first met when I joined the group. She gave me a hug and I started tearing up. Both her orig hounds are gone as well. I said I think all the orig hounds that I met when I joined are now gone

Last night at work I started tearing up. A lady was loving on Lucky and Pumpkin and it was just so sweet- I teared up for some reason.

It's strange how our emotions work